Cyclones topple Longhorns

Texas coach Mack Brown called his team "arrogant" following the Longhorns' 28-21 loss to visiting Iowa State.

He said that all parts of the team were to blame, while contrasting the Longhorns' plight to the success generated by the Cyclones and coach Paul Rhoads.

"He had his team ready to play today, and ours was still sitting around thinking about how well we played at Nebraska and stood around and got beat," Brown said. "I thought they were better coached than we were, I thought they tried harder than we did, and they definitely made more plays than we did."

When told that Brown seemed angry at the post-game press conference, Texas receiver John Chiles responded: "He should be. We shouldn't lose to Iowa State."

But lose the Longhorns did, thanks in large part to an offense that was held to six points through the first three quarters and turned the ball over four times. Defensively, Texas forced just one turnover while allowing the Iowa State ground attack to mash forward for 202 yards on 43 carries (discounting two sacks).

The Cyclones scored first, taking their second possession 80 yards in 11 plays. The score came when Austen Arnaud rolled out of the pocket and flipped the ball to receiver Darius Reynolds, who outran cornerback Chykie Brown to the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.

The Longhorns didn't get on the scoreboard for another seven minutes, when Justin Tucker kicked a 23-yard field goal. The Longhorns had a called touchdown on third down, but after a review, officials ruled that Garrett Gilbert's knee touched at the one. Cody Johnson then dove in on fourth down, but officials flagged Kyle Hix with a false start, nullifying the score and forcing the Longhorns to settle for three points.

After a pair of punts gave Iowa State the ball at the Texas 37, the Cyclones moved down the field taking a 14-3 edge when Alexander Robinson, who finished with 120 rushing yards, took an option pitch in from one-yard out. The Cyclones went for the jugular after the touchdown, kicking and recovering an onside kick. On the first play, the Cyclones used a flea-flicker and had Darius Reynolds open deep, but Arnaud put too much air under the throw and failed to connect. The Cyclones wound up punting.

That punt, and Curtis Brown's 40-yard return set the Longhorns up on the ISU 40. Texas moved the ball to the ISU 17, but Iowa State safety Michael O'Connell picked off a Gilbert pass intended for Tré Newton in the end zone. Another Longhorn scoring drive was halted just before halftime when Tucker missed a 37-yard field goal.

Tucker connected on his next attempt, a 21-yarder about halfway through the third quarter, cutting the Iowa State advantage to 14-6.

But then the Cyclones drove 89 yards in nine plays, converting a third-and-18 with a 35-yard pass from Arnaud to Jake Williams. Three plays later, facing a third-and-5 at the Texas 15, Arnaud found Josh Lenz in the back of the end zone for a 21-6 lead.

It appeared that Texas received a break when an errant Arnaud pass was intercepted by a sliding Keenan Robinson at the ISU 46. But on the very next play, Cyclone end Jacob Lattimer beat right tackle Britt Mitchell, hammering Gilbert and popping the ball into the air. Defensive tackle Jake McDonough hauled in the fumble before falling to the turf at the UT 40. Robinson capitalized on the turnover, running 20 yards to up the lead to 22.

Texas scored its first touchdown about 1:30 later. The Longhorns traveled 80 yards in six plays, headlined by passes of 46 and 17 yards to John Chiles, with the latter resulting in a touchdown. Gilbert scrambled for the two-point conversion, slicing the lead to 14. Texas scored again on a fourth down play when Gilbert hit Malcolm Williams on a nine-yard fade pass.

The Longhorns had one more chance, down 28-21 on their own 10-yard line. But Gilbert was sacked on first down and threw incomplete three times. Arnaud knelt once, and the Cyclones had the upset.

Brown compared the loss to the UCLA game, where the Longhorns imploded through their own mistakes. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said there wasn't anything the Cyclones did that should have surprised his team defensively. And offensive coordinator Greg Davis fingered the turnovers as the offense's primary problem.

After the game, the players said they were disappointed, rather than angry, and Gilbert probably summed up the loss the best.

"We didn't come out with the energy we would have liked to," Gilbert said, "and it cost us."

* Texas didn't use injuries as an excuse after the game, but there wasn't any question that the Longhorns were dealing with a number of key players hurt. Defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat and linebacker Emmanuel Acho both missed the game. Linebacker Jared Norton played sparingly, while linebacker Keenan Robinson and defensive back Kenny Vaccaro played extensively despite missing most of the week's practice.

* The win represented Iowa State's first road victory over a ranked team since 1990, and the Cyclones' first win over Texas in eight tries.

* Garrett Gilbert completed 22-of-34 passes for 166 yards and no touchdowns in the first three quarters. In the fourth, he hit on 12-of-23 throws for 178 yards and two touchdowns to one interception. For those three quarters, Gilbert's passer rating was a 94.0. His fourth quarter passer rating was 137.2.